Of Bidding Pools and Secretarys
by Unclear Destiny
Summary: He had thought it was love and lust for him, that he had shared a place in Tsuzuki’s heart along with his sweets and warmth and love.He had been so, so wrong. TatxHi, HixTsu implied, TatxTsuxHi implied. Hisoka centric.


"I Love you."

Three simple words was all it had been to put Kurosaki, Hisoka through hell.

His long-lived partner of eleven years stared at him, silent except for the shock disturbing his features. Hisoka had waited for ever heart-wrenching moment, fiddling nervously with the hem of his red sweater, looking back into Tsuzuki's violet orbs with his own bright green.

Abruptly, Tsuzuki had pushed away from the table, stood, and walked away.

Hisoka had gone cold.

Now, as he lay on the simple futon in his apartment, he had decided that it had been a rather idiotic action.

After all, how could such a lovely, wonderful, kind-hearted caring man ever want to be romantically involved with him? A child-monster that had been scorned and beaten by his mother, locked in his own basement by his father, hated in entirety by his family and a terrifying thought to the servants in his household-to scared to even bring his food within reach of the bars, setting it down a good foot and a half away before running away, squealing with fright if they even caught a glimpse of his eyes, so luminously green that they almost glowed.

A curse, he was called, a soulless child, son of the devil, abomination, freak, mindless twit, psychopath and so many more things he had been unable to even begin to grasp in his tender age...except that the words had been full of hate.

Hate towards him.

And if not even his parents could love HIM, a being created from their own essence...then who could?

Years and years of self-loathing conditioned by the people he was unfortunate enough to have to call parents was squalling at an all time high, a tormentous childhood no-where near forgotten storming to the forefront of his mind and raging at him in an incontrollable and unbridled fury.

All self-confidence he had somehow managed to gain was gone in a single, titanic swipe and by the time it was the next day, he had been dragged beyond rock-bottom, the self-assured walk that had developed over the years as gone as the stone-age.

He had later learned that Tsuzuki had been transferred. The name of the place never catching with him, to numb was he that the only fact that he had been dropped.

Abandoned. Thrown away like a worthless toy.

The worthless doll his elegant killer had always claimed him to be.

Was that all he was, all he had been?

Or perhaps all those caring, loving gestures he had misread, joyous smiles and affectionate violet eyes had all been out of pity?

Was he worth so little that he deserved nothing but pity?

Either way, it mattered for naught. He was alone again, without someone by his side.

He had begged for Tsuzuki to live for him, to stay by his side and in return told him that he had nowhere else to go but the violet eyed man's own.

He had enjoyed several long content years basking in the warm glow of Tsuzuki's chocolate warm heart, spoiled on the constant wave of affectionate attention that his partner had given him everyday, fattened beyond comprehension and drunk beyond the wildest of dreams from drinking the nectar that was Tsuzuki's love and lust for life.

He had thought it was love and lust for him, that he had shared a place in Tsuzuki's heart along with his sweets and warmth and love.

He had been so, so wrong.

He had spent the rest of the day in a daze, doing, but not seeing what he was doing. Hearing, but not actually listening to the comments of well wishes and that 'Maybe he would have more luck with paychecks without Tsuzuki'.

Feeling the emotions of other people, but unable to comprehend and to scared to view his own emotions anyway.

It had taken months of hell to put him back through heaven.

Eventually, Hisoka didn't even leave for work, to heartsick that he had no strength to draw from to face another day of mindless chatter and mind numbing paperwork.

Mindless chatter and mind numbing paperwork without Tsuzuki.

On one of these days, Tatsumi had come, tired of the young Kurosaki boy's slack in the office. He had dragged the unwilling blond, forced him to eat and get dressed before personally seeing that he would arrive at work.

This continued day after day, the secretary supervising the heart-broken boy and assisting with anything he needed help with. He would make sure that he ate, checking to see if his physical health was sure by paying visits to their resident mad scientist, then he would check again and again if need be. He would make sure he was mentally sound by forcing him, pulling him into long, in-depth conversations about his favourite book, Beethoven's fifth symphony, financial statistics and Chijou(as well as on occasion Meifu) politics.

Eventually, Hisoka had grown fed up with the treatment, enforcing that he had no right to enact his will on him and asking why the man even tried.

Tatsumi replied that it was because he cared.

Not because he was his partner, but because he had cared.

That he did care.

Hisoka had been thrown for a loop, the downright slam on the self-hate he had carried with him the day of Tsuzuki's rejection had left him deeply shaken, and the need to be alone and think things through.

Tatsumi hadn't let him be, wrapping him in a blanket and serving him tea before he started a conversation on art techniques, discussing everything from cinquins to pointillism. Hisoka had eventually been drawn in and had joined, arguing that hatching did indeed give a more rugged appearance than 'blackout' techniques and that freestyle was the purest form of poetry because it was the closest you could get to delving into the human soul.

From that day on, something had changed between them, Tatsumi still arrived to pick him up everyday, but this time Hisoka would greet him at the door. Whenever Tatsumi started a conversation, Hisoka would join in from the start. The secretary no longer needed to push the empath to eat and the assuredness and confidence slowly, but surely returned to his step.

He gave up his position as Shinigami, seeing it to be useless as one or both of the GuShoShin would always accompany him and instead picked up a 'job' as Tatsumi's apprentice, learning to control his very much mysterious empathic gift as well.

It had still come as a surprise, however, when Tatsumi announced that Hisoka was moving in with him and that he was to pack what he needed and wanted.

He had done so, and had moved in with Tatsumi the next day.

The boy had not yet gained all of his confidence back, fumbling through hardships in a decidedly adolescent manner.

Now that he had someone to soothe him after his nightmares, assuring him that he was safe and that he wouldn't be left alone again and that the basement and bars were not real had helped him to gain his lost confidence back. He was no where near peaceful, still squalling with conflicts, but he was no longer hating himself as much as he used to, having found the worth in life once more.

(1)He was maturing into a man again, and unlike Tsuzuki, Tatsumi had made no effort to stop it, saying that he preferred mature conversation to that of petty insults and screaming matches.

Despite his acquired position as the shadow-master's apprentice, Hisoka soon found himself on Shinigami pay, Konoe saying that they needed his skills in the field far more than they needed his skills in the filing cabinets.

A particularly bad case had sent him reeling, throwing him into a near catatonic mess had Tatsumi not decided to string along and oversee him as he tried to find arguments that he needed him far more than a few demons and suicide cases.

His tagging along had been a blessing, for the errant spirit had actually been an advanced telepath, at the height of his career and with no intention of leaving the promise of wealth and fame.

Hisoka's mind, still weak from his terrible depression, had left him as an open target. The man had brought back the suicidal feelings, the void of absolute worthlessness that had haunted him since Tsuzuki had transferred. The reinstated shinigami had been choking on heartbreak when the most bizarre thing had happened.

Tatsumi had kissed him.

Hadn't just kissed him, he let his feelings of calm acceptance, tight affection and dare he say it-love flow into him.

Hisoka had grappled for them, immediately clinging onto the feelings of warmth surging through him and, in the process managed to wrinkle the lapels of Tatsumi's suit.

He had managed to throw a seal afterwards, banishing the spirit to Meifu immediately.

After that day, the two had become closer than ever, never letting the other out of their sight.

(2)Both were determined not to let the other get away this time.

A small game had been developed from that, one trying to secure the other while the 'victim' tried to stay away. Of course, the game had been entirely sub-consciously played and by the time they had realized it, they also realized they were hopelessly in love with each other.

They had approached each other the same day, carrying the same awkward hunches and same shuffling feet, both avoiding the others gaze carefully as if nothing were wrong. Small talk was attempted, quickly dying and after several attempts, to the other employees amusement, they finally made eye-contact and kissed quiet fervently.

Watari had won the betting pool.

It was all smiles after that, the two joined at the hip, dancing on cloud nine with puffs of fog kicking up under their feet. Eventually things calmed down and got back to a normal sense of pace, a sweet-loving forever smiling happy-go-lucky brunette gone from most everyone's thoughts.

Until said sweet-loving, forever smiling happy-go-lucky brunette had shown up in the office one day, a bouquet held in his sweaty fist and one hand fiddling with his tie, futily tying to straighten it.

Hisoka had seen and, much to everyone's shock, had invited to over-grown puppy to tea on the patio in the sakura grove. The man had agreed immediately and the two had gone off, leaving Tatsumi shocked and angry. Shocked because Hisoka had actually invited the man out and angry at the audacity that the violet eyed man seemed to posses for trying to reclaim his former partner.

The tea-break seemed to last for hours, the shinigami hefting paperwork as they shifted, eyes going from the clock to the door every five minutes.

After an eternity , the two returned, Tsuzuki looking put down but understanding if slightly shocked and guilty that his leaving had effected his partner so. Apparently, year after year of making passes on the boy, trying to give him a hint had wore down on him and he had resignedly sent in a form of reassignment, only two days before Hisoka worked up the nerve to confess and far to late for the man was due to leave that very evening.

They had both accepted it and had decided to be friends. Tatsumi seemed over all pleased with the arrangement, but made sure to keep an eye on Tsuzuki should the man try anything.

Watari had won that bidding pool as well when the three had given up all pretences and decided to simply shag each other senseless.

END

A/N: Honestly, the outcome of this fic was entirely unexpected, written completely on whim with next to nothing inspiring it. I expected nothing. Watari did though apparently.

By the way, I'm still looking for a beta reader. Also, if your out of ideas for our beloved YnM fandom, then e-mail me with the title of 'YnM ideas' and I can assure you that nine out of eleven times I'll give you an idea to work with. Typically concerning Hisoka. cough

Disclaimer: I don't own Yami no Matsuei/Descendants of Darkness yadda yadda yadda. Now hitch a ride,

you nasty pedophilic lawyers.

(1) What I mean by this is that Tsuzuki always tries to constantly baby Hisoka, acting more like a father(and having an eerie resemblance to him in fact) than a lover, or at least in the anime. Tatsumi wouldn't do that, preferring for Hisoka to grow and blossom into the man he would have become if not for an unfortunate excursion.

(2)I should actually rephrases this-They were determined not to loose a potential lover again. They've both lost Tsuzuki one time or another, and in the process lost a person they could quiet literally spend eternity with. Not that they knew they were in love at that point, they just didn't want to see the other leave, though the reasons were beyond their comprehension.


End file.
